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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. roll — a list
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. sharp — clever
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. land — to come down
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. mine — for digging
  11. perch — the fish
  12. land — a country
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. roll — a cake
  18. clip — to cut
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. clip — a video
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. clip — for paper

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com